Without the Savior
by jinxedlies
Summary: At the young age of seven, Harry runs away from the people he hates the most. When the young Harry get older, he recieves his letter to Hogwarts, but can he go as Harry? No. Instead, he goes as Aiden Dejan Shayde, a supposed muggleborn.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE HARRY POTTER SERIES, NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WISH TO!!**

**Note: I was curious when I learned that J.K. Rowling might write another Harry Potter book, so I had to do some research. For those who are unaware as of now, J.K. Rowling is writing another book, but it's suppose to be an Encyclopedia of all the items/spells/ and other things mentioned in the Harry Potter books. Not quite what I expected, but it'll do for me. **

**A/N: Please note that if this sounds like someone elses story, it's a mere coincidence. I have read a couple on here, but nothing exactly like I'm about to write! Thanks! **

_**Chapter 1: Run Away...and Don't Look Back**_

A small boy jerked awake in a room where he'd been sleeping his whole, and rather crummy one at that, life. His large emerald eyes soaked in his dusty surrounding, but was satisfied to see that they were the same as the night before. He sighed in relief. Dudley often liked to sneak down and play awful tricks on him, often getting the skinny boy in more trouble than he could afford.

The small boy slid out of his bed, which wasn't a bed at all. It was a second-hand matress from Dudley's earlier years. It still stunk, nearly a year after the small boy had gotten it because Dudley had failed to master 'Potty Training' as The small boy's Aunt and Uncle called it.

Knowing it was now or never, the boy placed his small hand on the handle, taking a deep breath before pushing it open. He was surprised that it opened at all, considering that he could remember quite clearly how his Uncle Vernon had locked it in a fit of rage. He hadn't meant to appear on the roof of his school. He hadn't known how to get up there at all. He'd just been trying to get away from Dudley and his Gang.

"What are _you_ doing, Harry!?" Harry jumped as he saw his Uncle Vernon standing at the base of the stairs, looked slightly dazed. Harry winced, knowing the fact that he'd woken his very temperamental uncle up would only make everything much, much worse for him in the end.

"I- I-" The seven year old boy stuttered, looking quite scared as his Uncle took a menacing step towards him. "I'm s-sorry. I was-" He scanned his mind for an excuse--any escuse, but all he came up with was a, "I was just thirsty Uncle Vernon. Honestly, I'm sorry."

"YOU _IDIOT!_" Harry winced again, wishing he could take himself away from this situation. "You made all that bloody racket to get a drink!"

"Vernon?" A soft voice came from upstairs somewhere. "Is there something the matter? What's all that shouting. A beautiful person such as myself needs her beauty sleep."

Harry watched as his uncle moved towards him again, his face red with rage. Uncle Vernon didn't bother to answer his wife's question. Both he and Harry knew that it was most likely that she was asleep already. "How did you open the cupboard door. I locked it, I certainly did. No one wants a _freak_ running around this house."

Harry gulped. He was accustomed to be calling a freak, but he didn't care to tell his Uncle Vernon that he told it to. "I don't know. It just was unlocked when I woke up." I didn't do anything to it!"

Uncle Vernon shook his head, not accepting the answer. "You bloody liar. I told you not to contaminate our house with your filthy lies, and yet you still defy my orders! You got the door open yourself, understand." The look on his uncles face told Harry that 'no' wasn't a answer choice. Harry nodded quickly. "Good." He said softly. "Now get out."

"What?"

"You heard me." said the enraged uncle.

Harry watched, stunned at the turn of events. He waited for Vernon to change his mind...to say that they still needed their personal slave. "Uncle-"

Vernon's face turned an even darker shade of red, so dark now that it was almost a purple color. "I'm not your uncle anymore. Get out of my house!"

Harry took a step back, still watching his uncle, confused. "Please-"

"I said, get out! Run away! Go lay in a alley and die! I don't care! None of us care! You're a freak!_ They _were freaks! You're whole bloody family were all freaks! Now, get out and never come back! We don't care anymore and to be frank with you, I hope to never see that face of yours ehelp me out a bit, sver again! That ugly scar neither!"

With his uncles last few words burned into his mind, Harry ran out the door as fast as his seven year old legs could take him. All night the words echoed...and he didn't get one bit of sleep. Though he didn't know it, he was Harry Potter, savior of the Wizarding world, and at that time no one would find him. Not for a long, long time.

With those simple words that Uncle Vernon spoke, the Savior, Harry James Potter disappeared. And there was no one who ever was able to find him...for no one even knew the helpless seven years old was missing.

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**Before you start asking, yes I know this is a short first chapter, but in my mind it's just the prolouge, so it's allowed to be short...I think... Anyway, it's a little too short for even my liking. so I'm going to try to make all the next parts at least 2000 words or more, thank you.**

**Okay, I know this isn't the place to be asking this, but I don't exactly know how else to so here it goes; I'd like a beta reader to help me out a bit, but the problem is...I don't know who, so if you're a Beta Reader and is interested can you please review? I'm not recieving messages, so reviews would be a lot nicer. Thanks to anyone who cares!!**

**She's going to murder me for this, but I dedicate my story to my bestest(not a words, I know. Sheesh) friend in the entire world, Sierra Sierra (her penname of course. If I put her real name on here, I wouldn't be getting back to this story...ever. If you get what I mean.) Blah blah...check out her story...blah blah...**

**Go Sierra Sierra!!**


	2. Street Rat

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF IT! WELL, EXCEPT FOR A FEW CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNISE!! MOST OF THESE PEOPLE ARE MINOR, HOWEVER.**

**A/N: Okay, this one is short too. Really, it's not my fault. I've got a limited time of about 50 minutes to type this before my computer shuts down. I'm at the hospital right now and a little depressed because of that, so I don't know how any of this story is going to go yet. **

**Only two reviews so far. It's better than I could have gotten I suppose, but any of you who didn't review the last chapter, please review this one. I got 2 reviews and nearly a hundred people read it so I know you're out there!**

_**Chapter Two: Street Rat**_

_Harry Potter: Dead or Alive?_

Rita Skeeter

_Those of the wizarding community know of the terrors of the War You-Know-Who caused. With his infamous sidekicks, the renown Death Eaters, he reigned horrors upon even the strongest of wizards of that time. He defeated the greatest of wizards, harmed the most innocent of children, and tortured anyone in between. He was a horrific man who, many say, can't even be counted as human by the crimes he committed._

_Despite the fact that You-Know-Who was the most powerful wizard of the time period (excluding Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts) there was one boy who opposed him. One small boy, no older than fifteen months old at the time, took down You-Know-Who in an unknown way. You-Know-Who had murdered the boy's, Harry Potter by name, parents only minutes earlier. How had the boy managed to take down You-Know-Who? Still unknown, though it's thought that he was weakened in some way before trying to kill Harry Potter._

_Albus Dumbledore, respected for his various positions in the wizarding world, has finally released the information Daily Prophet readers have been yearning after for years. Dumbledore, who took young Harry Potter to his aunt's house, whom are muggles, has finally notified us that Harry Potter is missing...and has been for two years after running away from his Aunt and Uncles house. Harry, who had been seven at the time, is thought to be dead, even by Dumbledore. No seven year old boy could live alone in street world, unaided by adults, magical or otherwise. _

_Even though Young Harry is thought to be dead, Dumbledore has admitted that he would still await the time when Harry is suppose to go to school. "If he's there, we'll know it. He's a remarkable boy with a very different personality and look to him." _

_

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_

In fact, Harry was not dead, but he was unaware of his magical heritage. When he'd ran away that night from the harsh Dusley's, he'd had no idea what to do at first. What was a seven year old suppose to do to survive a horrendous life on the streets? There were full grown men who couldn't live though the first winter, so how was a small boy suppose to do it? At his age, no one dared to hire him. Child Labor law was a nice thing to some, but a cruelty to others.

That first night Harry hadn't dared go to far. He'd simply ran to the safest place he'd ever felt before. It was the place that, despite how many time Dudley and his Gang tried to harm him, he always felt so safe anyway. Even when his nose dripped blood when he came home later, he would still feel safe. At the park, it was almost like a home away from home. Dudley had never really understood why Harry had never run while at the park. The smallish, but still quite large, six year old Dudley hadn't really cared why his cousin was 'stupid' enough to stay when he could have easily out run all of them.

That night he had laid in a concrete tube that was just barely large enough for him to stretch out on. his young mind was hardly able to accept the fact that they didn't want him anymore. Sure he'd gotten the hint that they thought he was just a minor person who lived there, but was really never there. How could he not have? Yet, Harry had always thought that they had something in their hearts for him. They'd taken him in all these years ago and hadn't given him up. Why not? It would have been so easy. One simple, bye-bye and they never would have had to deal with him. So why keep him around? They'd given him the ugly looks and curses. Why hadn't they saved themselves from him? Why hadn't they saved Harry from their beatings--their punishments?

He knew whe had to be missing something, but he couldn't guess what. From his point of view, he knew they cared none about him. They hadn't even waited till he was old enough to take care of himself. What wasn't there? He took his mind to pieces but he only succeeded in bringing back an old nightmare. A green light...screams. He shook from his hiding place as he dropped into a sleep filled with merciless dreams of terror that he couldn't identify.

"Boy," Harry felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and he winced away, thinking it was his cousin and his gang. He relaxed as he noted it couldn't be him--Dudley wouldn't bother waiting until Harry was awake to start another one of his sick games. "Come on, wake up, boy."

Harry grimaced and pulled away from the man who was crouched just outside the tunnel. He groaned and rubbed where he could feel where his scar was--or at least where it should have been. He rubbed his forehead more vigoriously, only to find that it was gone...or at least it _felt_ gone. Harry looked at the man who was gazing back at him with a look of curiousity. "Where...Who are you?" He blurted out before he could think.

"Come out of there for a minute and I'll tell you." The man stepped away and Harry crawled out, blushing. He didn't like to be discovered in such a state. "Now, what's a little boy like yourself doing out here alone? Where's you're parents?"

Harry's eyes widened in alarm. This man would tell the Dursleys! This man would drag him back to the people who kicked him out two years ago. he couldn't let that happen. "I- I don't have any parents." Harry didn't look at the man...he couldn't. "They died awhile ago."

"Where do you live, then?"

"Here." Harry shrugged, knowing the truth had to be told in one way or another. "I'm nine now. I can take care of myself. I'm still alive aren't I?"

The man chuckled, "Yes, I must say, you are alive. There's no doubting that. I'm Henry, by the way. The name is Henry Shayde. And may I ask who you are? It's quite curious to see a boy your age out here alone."

Harry had already braced himself for the questions. Two years ago he'd woken up after that first night with the oddest sight of his light. In the middle of the night he'd woken up with an oddest tingle that echoed through his body. Out of half fear and half curiosity he'd gotten up and crawled to a small pool of water that just barely reflected himself. The first moment his eyes connected with the boys in the pond, he'd leaped back in fear. On second thought, he'd crawled back and starred at the boy...himself in the pool of water, not sure what to think. He knew his own reflection because of the hours he'd spent scrubbing the bathroom floors before guests came over. He'd mesmerized the long black hair and the emerald eyes, but he wasn't seeing that Harry.

The boy in the pool wasn't black haired any longer, but was now a light brown...almost a sandy color. He admired the short hair for a moment before looking into the now brown eyes, which glared back at him with an intensity that almost terrified him. he knew he really didn't have to fear the Dursleys anymore because of how much he'd...changed, but the fear remained all the same.

"I'm Aiden. " He said strongly.

"Don't you have a last name, Aiden?"

"No." He said, glaring at the man who looked taken aback. Harry's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I'm just Aiden. Dejan is my middle name. I haven't had a last name in so long, I think I've forgotten it."Harry hadn't forgotten it...there was no way he would ever forget the name Harry James Potter.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall watched as Albus Dumbledore scanned his intense blue eyes through the Daily Prophet article they both knew was, for once, horribly close to the truth. "Albus?" Minerva questioned the headmaster who sighed as he read the article for the eighth time. "I don't think the news will change just because you read it a dozen time over.

"Ahh," Dumbledore closed the paper and set it on the desk in front of himself. "I believe you are right. " He chuckled, but there was no sign of that familiar twinkle in the Headmasters blue eyes. "I deeply regret it isn't true, though. He'd be back by now if it was."

Minerva sighed. She knew exactly which 'he' he was talking about. "Albus, Harry's been gone for years and I don't think even he could survive winters alone. Then there's those muggle beggars who would do anything for an extra pence or so. Albus, I think it's best we accept that Harry won't attend Hogwarts two years from now."

"I've long since accepted the fact, Minerva. It's the rest of the world that's going to have problems accepting The Chosen One, The Boy Who Lived...is no more. He was our only chance at winning an upcoming war. It's going to be hard on everyone that we will not win."

"Albus! Surely there must be another way! There has to be another way in case something like this happens. Prophecies aren't for sure. You told me yourself a few years ago. They're not set in stone as many believe. Tell me you know of another way." Minerva didn't like the note of panic that was clearly in her voice.

"There isn't, Minerva. We either have to find the boy, alive and well, which in an impossible feat. The other way is to well, truely give up when he rises. That's the way to save many lives, but I can't see the witches and wizards of the world agreeing to either of these.

Minerva stood by, shocked at the Headmasters words. "Of course not, Albus! Surrendering to You-Know-Who would end the lives of muggleborns and halfbloods ever quicker than before. I'm shocked you even brought such a thing up!"

"Minerva," He said without blinking, "It's only a suggestion of the truth. You must accept it."

"Of course, Albus."

"May we move on now?"

"Whenever you please."

"Minerva, I want to talk to you about something I found on the Lists."

Minerva raised her eyebrows and muttered, "Albus, not even Headmasters are allowed to look at the lists until we are ready to send out the letters. We want absolute privacy for our students, you said those words yourself."

"I did, Minerva, but there was a strong force telling me something was different so I took a look, a quick one really, and at that moment another name added itself at the end."

Minerva frowned in confusion. "The names are permanent...they can't add any. It's not possible. When did this happen?"

"A couple of years ago." Dumbledore had a pained look on his face. "I also checked for Harry, but he wasn't on the list. It was my first clue he wasn't ever going to come to Hogwarts."

"What name was added?"

"The mysterious thing is that it wasn't a full name as I was expecting. It was a simple name...a common one too, only I've never known of a wizard by this name... Hmm. Aiden, I think it was. The list simply said Aiden."

"Aiden?"


	3. Caught

**A/N: Yes, these are probably a bit boring at the moment, but I promise you they'll get better and longer (that a hopeful). As I said before, I'm in a hospital, so my time to write these are limited. Hopefully, I won't have to use this excuse much longer. **

**Harry is nine at this time...the first chapter was simply a prolouge, even though it does say chapter one. I'll fix that when I have the time. Hey, I know there are Beta readers out there! I really would like one myself. I am a Beta Reader personally, but I'd like other peoples opinions!**

**Okay, some will say these next chapters are a bit fast paced, but I do this fo a reason! The first couple chapters will go fast years-wise because I want to have Harry, actually Aiden if you will, to start Hogwarts are Chapter Five. **

**Dedicated to: **

**Sierra Sierra, who also has a great story going on at the moment. Rah, Rah to my best friend in the real world and here on fanfiction!**

**Yes, I'm done now. READ! NOW!!**

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**Chapter Two: Caught**

Harry let the man lead him away from the park for aways before pausing and letting his surroundings sink in for awhile. It had been years since he'd ventured this far from his home at the park. The farther from familiar territory he was, the more danger he was in. After all, as a young homeless boy, no one had an ounce of respect for him at all. They only cared about whether he had money...or perhaps even food to feed themselves with. Somehow, Harry managed to fend off any thieves for the past two years, because they weren't very sneaky. The homeless were only desperate.

Still, Harry led the same life they led, and he knew why they did what they did. As grown-ups they needed a lot more to survive. More food...more room for shelter...some had even more mouths to feed at home. Harry had never sunk ow enough to steal from another like himself. He had, of course, stolen from a supermarket a couple of time before moving onto another, then another. Even he needed food to survive.

Luckily, he had been food deprived at the Dursley's too, so this really wasn't much of a change. In some ways, the homeless life was much better than life at the Dursley's. When homeless he didn't need to be a slave for him 'family'. He didn't need to rush to do all his chores just to avoid being beaten. He didn't have to live a life in a little cupboard beneath the stairs. This way he was free to do what he pleased, even if the bed was lacking satisfaction.

"Aiden?" Harry refocused on the man, making sure to still avoid his gaze. If there was one thing he'd been taught by Vernon, it was that eye contact was extremely forbidden. "Aiden, are you coming along? I don't think it's best for a little boy like yourself to be out here by yourself for the rest of your life. You can still have a great life."

Harry still didn't truly trust the man, but he seemed kind. Or at least, he was kinder than Vernon, his aunt, and Dudley. Harry didn't like how the man was trying to be silent. Harry had years of practice from his shoplifting, but this man had no hope. His footsteps still rang out loudly in Harry's ears. "Where are we going?" Harry asked, wanting to be smaller so he could sneak away from this mans persisting gaze.

"My house." the man said simply, looking a little mystified by the question. _Henry_, Harry remembered, _His name is Henry Shayde. Awesome name._ "Are you scared?" Henry asked, concern shining in his eyes. Harry shook his head. Admitting a weakness wasn't allowed in his world, though he was scared. Never before had another person approached him without meaning harm.

"Aiden." The man took Harry's hand in his own and said, 'you have the right to be scared. You've most likely been through a lot. It's not a weakness to say you're scared every once in awhile. If you are, you can tell me. I'll help you, Aiden, but only if you let me." Henry's eyes were shining, as if he was about to cry. "Will you let me help you Aiden?"

Harry looked at the man, knowing now that it was only a trap. Help...Help was only offered by those who were kind to him at first, and then hurt him later. Harry snatched his hand from Henry's with a look of defiance on his face. "No!" Harry shouted shaking, and backing away. "Get away from me!"

"Aiden..."

"Don't talk to me!" Harry screamed at the man, not quite sure where all this anger was coming from. "You're like _them_," He spat out the last word. "They were suppose to help me, but they hurt me!" Harry whimpered at the memories. "They kicked me out!" Harry was prepared to run when he felt his invisible scar blister with pain. With a shriek, Harry toppled over, clutched his face. Tears contorted his face as the spasms rocked his body. Harry remembered having these before, when waking up from the horrible dreams with the green light. It had never been this bad.

"AIDEN!" He heard the voice bellow from nearby, buy it became fainter with every shout. "Aiden! Aiden! Aiden!"

The darkness settled in around Harry, and the pains stopped. he sighed as he was washed over by the darkness, leaving that voice behind. "Aiden...Please, Aiden..."

* * *

When Harry was waking, the first thing he felt was the scar that wasn't there and the pain that was most certainly there. As of late the spasms had become more frequent and they made him feel drained for days after. His body still trembled with pain, but around him there was comfort...so much comfort. A pillow..."Huh?"

Harry shot up, leaping out of the bed with confusion. It was obviously a bedroom of some sort. Who's, he couldn't tell you. But it was a rather nice bedroom. It had blue walls and matching carpet. As he gazed around him at the plain, but still elegant, room he suddenly felt another presence in the room. Behind him stood Henry. Harry tried to avoid eye contact, but he wasn't able to and he soaked in the mans own pain. Harry backed away from Henry again, not making eye contact again. It was all a trick. A nasty cruel trick. This seemingly nice man would turn on him like everyone else. "Aiden, please. Just stay still. I won't hurt you, see?" He held up both his hands and Harry winced again.

Harry shook, but stayed on spot as he allowed the man to approach him. As the man neared him there was another voice, "Henry!" Harry flinched and back away again. This time he settled on the bed but was still uncontrollably pale. "Henry, get your butt out of that room right now! You've hidden in there long enough! Come out and act like a man!"

Henry sighed and gave Harry a small smile. "My wife." He said slowly, as if awaiting some reaction in the boy. "She's as mad as a bull right now. It's going to take a long time to get Anne to calm down this time. She doesn't know I brought you here, you see. I was waiting for you to wake up." Harry kept his mouth firmly shut. "I've got to go calm her."

"You can tell her, you know." Henry looked at him surprised. Harry realised it was the first time he'd spoken so weakly. "Unless I'm a problem. I'm always a problem. Can I leave, sir?"

"Sir isn't needed, Aiden. A Henry would be nice. I don't like sir much. No ones understood why..." Henry looked dazed, then snapped back to his own wits. "No, I don't want you to leave, Aiden. You're only a boy. I'd like to tell Anne about you if it's the right time."

Harry shrugged. "Might as well tell her now. She'll just get even more angry at you if you wait longer."

"Thanks, Aiden." Henry strode over to the wooden door that opened as Henry twisted the lock. Harry paled a bit. He couldn't stand being locked in. Locks had always locked him in the cupboard, and locks locked him in here. He felt trapped everywhere. "Anne?"

"What?" Harry tensed as he heard the woman shout from nearby. It sounded young, almost as young as the man. "Why are you hiding behind a door? I've always hated people disturbing room that needn't be disturbed." Harry knew she was probably giving Henry a very nasty look.Harry almost felt sorry for the man.

"Anne, if you would please calm down so I can explain?" There was a pause. Harry hated being trapped in this room, knowing that just past this door two people blocked his flight to freedom. "Thank you. As you noticed, I came home two night ago-" Harry felt his legs go numb. Two nights? "And I stayed there."

"Yes. It was hard not to notice. I hope you have an excuse."

"Might as well get right to the point." The door opened and Harry found himself suddenly starring right into the eyes of a very pretty blonde woman who was probably entering her early thirties. "Anne, I'd like you to meet Aiden. I picked him up a few nights ago when he got...injured."

"Oh, you poor dear!" Harry gaped at the woman as she started to fuss over him. "You're awfully skinny aren't you? You look horrible! I have got to get something in you right away! How long has it been since you last ate?"

Harry tried to mentally calculate. "Well," He said cautiously, "if I've been out for two days, then it would have to be a week."

This time it was there turn to stare at him. "A week?"

Harry nodded, "It doesn't matter that much to me. I'm use to it.I was taught not to need a lot offood when I was little..." Harry shut his mouth. He knew he'd given them too much information. Now they would ask him and he would have to give answers. 'Why must I screw everything up so horribly?'

"Who were you're parents, Aiden?" Henry snapped. "Who were the people who decided to not feed you?"

"It-it wasn't my parents!" Harry knew he had to defend them, just in case. "My parents weren't alive at the time..." When Harry saw the gleams in the other two peoples eyes, he knew he had to tell them something. "My parents died when I was one, you see and my aunt and uncle took me in. They hated me though, and their son used me as a...a punching bag."

Harry was smuggled in another hug by Anne so he stood there, confused.. Why were they acting so nice? He was a nobody...He was undeniably useless. He wasn't worth a hug. He'd never been worth a hug. Why were these people trying so hard? Harry squinted and bit his lip as Anne touched him on his shoulder. He shied away from her. That bruise was still new...and it hurt. "What is it?"

"Aiden, pull up your sleeve."

"N-no."

"Aiden!"

"Fine!' He let them see the bruise, along with a couple others that hid under the street thin shirt he was wearing. "It's no big deal." He said. "I'm just a little boy, a weakling. They take advantage all the time. I'm used to it."

"Aiden,"

Harry's eyes flared. "You're on their side!' He shrieked, "I knew it! Just get away from me!"

"Aiden..." Henry said hopelessly. He watched as the boy looked at both of them,the small amount of trust in his eyes dissolved right then. "We don't even know why they are! They're just questions."

Harry was confused. These two people, Anne and Henry, seemed so nice compared to everyone else he'd met in his short lifetime. They truly were just questions, but not questions Harry felt comfortable with answering. He really wanted to believe they didn't mean any harm, but he'd never known an adult who didn't beat him up because he was weaker. The rich kids tended to hurt him too, but Harry didn't like recalling all the times when the older kids jumped him.

He took a deep breath as he remembered how he'd gotten the latest bruise. The one on his shoulder that both Anne and Henry had asked to see.

**

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**Flashback**

_It had only been two nights ago when Harry was tucking a package of crackers in his pocket after a recent trip to the supermarket. Of course, it was stolen food. Harry didn't hear it as a man, skinnier than even Harry himself, snatched the crackers from his pocket. "Hey!" Harry yelped, spinning around to confront the man,"That's mine!"_

_"Sure it is." The man sneered. Harry couldn't help but notice what a ratty look he had to him, though his clothes were shabby, but made of very material. He was once rich, by the look of his clothes, and he just simply wasn't rich any longer. " You stole it. I watched you. It was fair game, you stupid kid. You stole it from a store, so I stole it from you."_

_Harry knew it wasn't worth getting in a fight over. They were only crackers, but it had been three days since he'd last eaten. "Give me them back." Harry struggled to sound brave, but there was a slight ting of fear in his voice and it didn't go unnoticed._

_"You don't deserve it. Now, I'm leaving with my meal. I thank you for stealing i just for me, It was ever so kind of you." He laughed and Harry snapped. _

_The man flew backwards and he crumple as he connected with a wall. Harry winced as he heard a loud crack. His eyes bulged as he scrambled towards the man who was lying in a weird position. Not really wanting to touch the man, he shook as he felt for a pulse. Finding one, he sat back in relief, closing his eyes as he clutched the crackers that had somehow managed to find their way back into his shaking hands. _

_"Idiot." Harry's eyes flew open and crept towards the shadows as a second man entered the alley. "Who beat you up this time?" The man kicked the injured man. "Come on, get up you great lump! I'm not carrying you this time. _

_"Kid-..." Harry heard the man barely manage to gasp out. "A kid." He stumbled over to Harry who was no longer trying to hide. He was frozen in fear as the man swung a fist. Harry knew avoiding it would be easy but he only just managed to jerk his face away. The blow landed heavily on his left shoulder. He found back tears as he felt._

_He was back at his park by the time Harry remembered he left the crackers back at the alley. _

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"Severus, have you anything new to tell us of?" Albus Dumbledore's eyes hadn't twinkled in quite a few days, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the Order. Even as he talked to Snape, potions teacher and trusted spy, he didn't sound his cheerful self. Snape looked at him with a small sneer.

"Of course not, Headmaster. He's gone. Why would I have any information?"

Albus didn't seem any more discouraged. "I've got information to relate to you. As The Order of the Phoenix,it's you who should know the truth." He sighed. "As I've already told Minerva, Harry Potter isn't on the List to go to Hogwarts. Ever." There were gasps all around and whispers broke out everywhere. Dumbledore held up his hand and the conversation ceased. "As you we all know now, he disappeared two years ago from his Aunt and Uncle's house. The disappearance was found out only recently, so there are no search teams out yet, and I believe we shouldn't send any out.",

"But Dumbledore, his life could be in danger! We must look for him!" Molly Weasley shouted, appalled.

"I don't believe his life to be in danger. I put two and two together. He ran away two years ago, in sad condition I must add. He's young, at the time only seven. Its a harsh world on the streets and the last two winters have been unconditionally harsh also. He's not on the List...I think our Harry Potter is dead."

The Order sat stiller than they probably ever had. No arguments broke out. There was only the shocked silence at the news that the The Boy Who Lived would now be The Boy Who Lived Only To Die On The Streets A Couple Of Years Later.

All was not well at the Order.

* * *

**Okay, the last couple of paragraphs weren't originally in this chapter, but while I was typing this got added somehow. My format's probably messed up...oh well. And, please review. Constuctive critism is needed!! review, message, whatever. Just tell me what you think. **

**Don't worry. Harry isn't going to be here for long...looks around with an evil look**


	4. Believing

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER, THE DURSLEY'S, OR ANY OTHER CHARACTERS! THEIR ALL MADE UP BY THE MIND OF IN INGENIOUS J.K. ROWLING!! IF I WAS THE AUTHOR OF THE GREAT CHARACTERS I WOULDN'T BE WRITING THIS, WOULD I? HOWEVER, I DO OWN HENRY SHAYDE, ANNE SHAYDE, AND AIDEN DEJAN SHAYDE (THE NAME AT LEAST) I ALSO OWN MR. TILBET. YES, I DON'T LIKE THE NAME MYSELF, BUT YOU WON'T END UP HEARING IT ALL THAT MUCH. IT WILL CHANGE...**

**A/N: Due to some confusion on my part, Harry will now be called Aiden at all times, except in his memories, flashbacks, or in confrontations (hint, hint). His full name, Aiden Dejan Shayde, gives away the fact that he will end up being adopted later on. I gave it away in the summary, which was an accident. I wrote the summary on auto-pilot, or something. I gave too much away, but it's too late now.**

**A/N2: I remind you, these chapters are going fast on purpose! They'll be skipping weeks months, and even years at certain points. Harry's (Aiden's) schooling should start around the fifth or sixth chapter. Not much happens for a purpose! Aiden, also Harry, is growing up in a muggle household that won't have much excitement...until a certain incident.**

**Thanks to jabarber69 for the long review! Had to make me think for a second...**

**Okay, this chapter is inspired by my brother because, even though he's a royal pain most of the time, he can be a great deal of help at others. He's even...brave sometimes. I'm sure I'm going to regret saying all this later**

**Dedicated To:**

**Sierra Sierra**

**Tom (my brother, not young Voldie!)**

**Also, to tansy1354, who might become my beta reader sooner or later.**

**NOW YOU MAY READ!!**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Believing**

"Aiden?" Aiden jolted awake by the voice he knew was Anne Shayde, wife to Henry Shayde...a person he still didn't trust two weeks later. Anne Shayde held his respect a little more because of her motherly quality. She always had a truthful look in her eyes and she truly seemed to like Aiden, even though he was just a boy brought off the streets.

In the two weeks since he'd had the head-splitting attack, Anne had immediately tried to get him to look more like a person and less like a stick figure to no avail. Aiden wasn't able to consume as much food as one his age should because of his malnourished life. Slowly, his appetite was increasing, but not as much as Anne had been hoping at first. "You're all skin and bones!" She'd said as he barely touched his meal. "Surely you should be able to eat much more than that! You're a growing boy and I know that growing boys are bottomless pits. Believe me, I grew up the only girl with five brothers!" Aiden had ignored her and finished eating, excusing himself before retreating to the room they'd assigned him.

"Yes?"

"Aiden, I know you must be rather uncomfortable in my company. I'm a stranger to you, after all. I was just hoping to let you know that neither Henry nor I mean you any harm. We're just concerned."

"I know." Aiden shrugged. He _did_ know, but it was still hard to understand that there was someone who actually cared for him. Before then, the only adults who hadn't beat him up was the Kindergarten teacher he'd had before he ran away and she was nice to everyone.

"You do?" Anne look surprised. "Aiden, there's something we need to talk about. Henry wanted to tell you himself, but you're more uncomfortable around him." She took a deep breath and continued, "Henry told me about what happened when he found you...about the pain in your head. We don't want to let you go back into the streets. It's a illegal for us to allow you anyway, but I don't want to hand you over to Social Security. I have no doubt you'd be adopted right away, but I still don't like the fact. Last night, Henry and I stayed up late and we've decided something if you'd allow us to. Aiden, we'd like to adopt you."

"What? Why? Everyone hates me!" Aiden tried to turn away, but Anne proved that to be impossible.

"Come now, not everyone hates you. Not by a long shot. Henry wouldn't have brought you here if he didn't like you, or care for you. And I love you like you were my own son, so we might as well made you my own son. It's always been my dream to have a little boy." She brushed Aiden's brown bangs away from his face and smiled. "You're a rather cute boy too."

Aiden blushed. He'd never been called cute before. The Dursley's had nly known him as a thorn in theirs sides, and on the streets he was just another innocent boy thrust into the worst world possible. "I don't know..."

"Oh, you haveplenty of time to decide. You don't need to worry about it right now. I was just hooping you would know that we're not like your aunt or uncle in any way. They were just horrible people to a little boy. You deserve the best life you can have."

Aiden smiled, "You say that everyday."

"I do, don't I?" She got up and flipped the light switch on her way out. "I didn't wake you before, did I? I didn't mean to wait until you were asleep. You only get a couple hours of sleep because of your head and those horrible nightmares you have every night."

"I don't mind." Aiden said and Anne closed the door, leaving Aiden in the darkness. For once, that darkness didn't seem so bad, so evil. Aiden tried to think what it would be like to have Anne as his mother and Henry as his father. Truthfully, he could fit into the family well, with his looks. Though Anne had blonde hair and brown eyes, Henry had brown hair and blue eyes. With Aiden's brown hair and brown eys, it would look like he got one trait from each of his 'parents'. Aiden liked the though of having parents who loved him. It was a a foreign thought, though.

"Tomorrow I'll wake up, " He muttered to himself, "and nothing will have happened. I'll be sitting at the table and they'll try to make a dull conversation. They won't speak about adopting me. I'll just be the boy they'll shove away when their done with me."

* * *

Aiden woke up the next day with a clear head, realizing that he'd been nightmare-free for the first time since arriving at the house. No pain in his car. It had been weeks since he felt so great. He loved the feeling and decided to enjoy the lightheaded feeling he got with it. Knowing it wouldn't be long until Anne cam to wake him, Aiden pushed himself up out of the bed with a grin on his face. This life was growing on him and he knew it. Yet, he hardly could care.

Aiden dressed in some clothes Henry had bought for him a couple of nights ago, looking at them appraisingly. He hadn't the slightest clue why Henry would but such nice clothes for him, but he never dared to ask. If they wanted him to wear nice clothes, then he wasn't about to complain. However, he was curious as to whether they really wanted to adopt him, so he didn't stay in his room long.

"Henry, Anne?' Aiden called, knowing already where they were at this time of day. "The kitchen!' he heard call from a door on the right. "We're always in the kitchen!" Aiden rolled his eyes. Both Henry and Anne were usually serious people, but when something good happened, their personalities changed.

Aiden entered the kitchen, stopping suddenly as he realized there was an odd cheery feeling floating around...it almost made him feel better, but it took a little more than a happy Anne and a happy Henry to get Aiden to feel a lot better about himself. Aiden slipped quietly in his chair that had been assigned to him the first night here. It was almost as if they'd expected him to stay from the first night he'd arrived. "So..." Aiden said, quietly, beginning to become a little disturbed by the smile on Henry's face as the man read a paper. "What's going on? What's with all the sudden happiness all of a sudden?"

"What do you mean?" Anne smiled back at Aiden and he found off the possibility of rolling his eyes at her. Some people really knew how to get him mad for almost no reason. "Right now, absolutely nothing is happening."

Aiden caught the catch in her sentence, but didn't dwell on it. He was only nine after all, and he really didn't want to get into Anne and Henry's business. He knew he would get out more confused than when he went in. It was the unenviable for everyone. Aiden let it drop. "Any news?" he asked, knowing perfectly well that there wasn't. Nothing seemed to happen in this household and he liked it that way.

Anne looked at him as if she'd just remembered something quite important. "Oh, Aiden, I forgot to tell you!"

"Whatever it is," Aiden said seriously, "I can forgive you already. I got down here, what two minutes ago? Three? You were in your happy mode the whole time, so I'm probably saying this for no reason whatsoever."

"Shush you." She sat herself down in a chair next to Henry's and gave Aiden her warm smile. "I got a call from a nice sounding man this morning. Somehow, he found out that you've missed a couple of years of school and has offered to help you catch up, so you won't have to be kept back a couple of grades. I believe he said his name was Tilbet. Rather odd sounding name if you ask me, but he sounded quite wise. Would you feel comfortable learning here?"

Aiden's eyes flickered up to the motherly woman in front of him and he shook his head, his long bangs reaching down to his eyes, beginning to cover them. "I dunno. I thought you were just kidding when you said you'd adopt me. I never thought you were serious."

"Of course I was serious!"

Aiden shrugged again. "You never know. Personalities seem to change rather rapidly around me. You know, because no one likes me that much."

Henry sighed, clearly starting to get angry. "How many times must I tell you, Aiden? You are well liked. You are not hated. You are not ever unworthy of anything. You are a child and you deserve the ability to act like one before you grow up too much. You act too old for your own good, though, and you need to stop putting yourself down. The more you believe that no one likes you, the more likely the chance is that people will start to not like you. Act less mature, and you'll be fine."

Aiden was silent, struggling to find something that would get him back on Henry's good side. "This teacher, tutor, whatever he is..." Aiden said quietly. "What's he like? Must I really go back to school. It's been so many years..."

"Yes." Anne said firmly. "You will not grow up ignorant. I won't allow it. Mr. Tilbet will teach you everything you need to learn."

Aiden stayed silent, unable to find any part of himself that could be possibly happy at the news of a private tutor. They were suppose to be for those who were really smart and bypassed everyone else in class, or people unable to have enough smarts to get in a class. Aiden knew he was in the latter of the two.

"When do I have to start?"

"We've arranged him to begin to teach you every day, except for Saturdays and Sundays, for seven hours. He'll be coming here everyday at six in the morning and will work until one. Th rest of the day will be free for you to do what you please." Anne looked at her watch. "Henry, will you go check to see if the mails here yet? I don't feel like getting up and going out to the mailbox today. Honestly, why couldn't you have gotten a mail slot right in the door. Would have been a lot more helpful."

Henry grunted, and got up, leaving Aiden alone with Anne. Aiden was shocked that he was beginning to take comfort in this family. He'd never trusted anyone before, especially not an adult. When Aiden was younger, all adults were pictured as cruel and mean, and never to be trusted. Yet, Aiden found himself caring for Anne and Henry, like parents almost. Suddenly, the factor of them adopting him into their family didn't seem so awkward.

"Anne?" Aiden said, remembering a question she'd asked not to long ago. At the time he hadn't felt the need to answer it, but now it seemed like they needed to know. "I've never gotten the chance to tell you anything, have I?" She looked up from the paper she'd snatched away from Henry when he'd went to get the mail. "I'm nine." He started, knowing he would tell her only the most basic facts. "And I've been one the streets since I was seven years old..." He related his story as much as he dared, minus names and certain events they would have told him was impossible like when he woke up with an alternate look and the time when he made a man fly across an alley because of a threat.

"Oh, you poor dear," she said when he was done, ruffling his hair a bit, "you've been through an awful lot for a nine year old. I didn't expect it that bad." She suddenly seemed to remember something. She stared at his hair and smiled gently. "However, I think it's time you had a haircut. As it is, it looks a little untuidy for my liking."

"Leave the boy alone." Henry reappeared with an open letter in hand, grinning once more. "Alyssa wrote."

Anne jumped from the seat and snatched the letter away, letting a grumbling Henry have the paper again. "Oh, it's been nearly a month this time. She better not have gotten another detention like last time."

"Who's Alyssa?"

Henry and Anne stared at Aiden, in shock for a moment. "Uh..." Anne managed to get out weakly. "I think we have to tell you something..."

"You think? Who's Alyssa?" He repeated. These adults were keeping secrets. They didn't trust him...had they ever trusted him at all. "Who is she?" Aiden knew his face was most likely bright red by now, from the embarrassment of yelling at them.

"Alyssa," Anne said testily, looking at Aiden wearily. "If we adopted you, Aiden, then that would make Alyssa your sister. She's our daughter. She's nine and is at a boarding school in America somewhere. She insisted on going with her other friends. We were going to tell you," Anne gushed out, "but we didn't know what time was right. You were still weak up until a few days ago and we didn't want to shock you with the information."

Aiden slumped over, knowing he'd clearly overreacted. "I'm sorry," he muttered, "I was scared though. You were keeping secrets from me. I don't like people keeping secrets--it makes me feel like I'm not trusted."

"Aiden," Henry said, " in this family, we trust you with our lives."

* * *

The Order of the Phoenix meeting was becoming strained. The lack of information put a damper on everyones mood, including those who were never cheerful to begin with. Severus Snape was included in that particular group. Most of the members were fidgeting, as reports began less and less interesting as the weeks went by. The lack of You-Know-Who and his supports, the Death Eaters, gave the group nothing to do. Most wondered why the group was still running.

The members looked up as Albus Dumbledore spoke again, thinking that it was time for them to go. The hour long meeting had been excruciatingly long and everyone was stiff. "I know by now everyone wants to go home." There were murmurs of agreement. "And I think it's about time we wrap this meeting up. But before you go, I want to give you all an update on our mysterious 'Aiden' boy scheduled to come to Hogwarts in a few years. I took another look at the List and saw that Aiden is now Aiden Dejan Shayde. You may all go now."

The member got up slowly, stretching before heading out. Wizards and witches alike walked out the door of 12 Grimauld Place, eager to get away from the building that had held them for several hours. Only when they arrived at their own homes did they dare to think of the mysterious boy, Aiden Dejan Shayde, and what he would hold in his hands in the future.

As the last Order member filtered from the room, Albus, Minerva, and Arthur and Molly Weasley remained, contemplating the mysterious boy. "Is he suppose to be special in any way, Heastmaster?" Minerva asked, never taking her eyes off Dumbledore's face. "Why would he appear on the List so late?"

"Ahh, Minerva," he sighed, "The real question is why Harry Potter disappeared from the List. He's an obvious wizard and I always thought he was strong enough to survive."

"Albus," Molly said softly, "It's hurting everyone that Harry Potter is gone, perhaps for good. The world is probably doomed by the rise of You-Know- Who in the future and I personally wish to see my children free wizards, but now I know it's not meant to be. Everyone's starting to get over it. At this moment we need to deal with the ones who are still alive, people like our Aiden Dejan Shayde here."

"I know, Molly, but I ever wanted to live to see the wizarding worlds spiraling downfall. Now it seems like I'll be one to fight in it myself. The first war was enough for me. I haven't a clue what I'll do when the second one rises."

"We'll fight," Arthur said sadly, "And I guess we'll have to keep the wizarding worlds hopes up when we all know we'll lose to You-Know- Who and his idiotic Death Eaters."

* * *

**After-the-story-A/N: Some may notice that Anne is a lot like Mrs. Molly Weasley and I meant for that to happen. Though I never really wrote that much of it, Harry had no trust because of the Dursley's and his life on the streets. In order to gain that trust back, I needed someone who he would easily trust, but I didn't think it was the right time for him to meet a wizard! Otherwise this story would be very different, as Harry would be living with the Weasleys instead. I liked this story better, though, so this was what I went with.**

**Review Responses**

**jabarber69-- I didn't know that, actually. I'm not a big T.V. person. Anyway, I heard about it online and I saw a couple of sites that said it was being worked on and was going to come out in a couple of years. Shows what I know. I should probably check my facts more next time. Oh well...**


	5. Meets and a Letter

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS, PLACES, CHARACTERS, OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH HARRY EXCEPT FOR A COUPLE OF MADE UP CHARACTERS; HENRY SHAYDE, ANNE SHAYDE, ALYSSA SHAYDE, AND THE AIDEN DEJAN SHAYDE, THOUGH I DON'T OWN THE CHARACTER. I ALSO OWN MR. TILBET, WHOSE NAME I LAWFULLY HATE.**

**A/N: I don't much like Aiden/Harry's summers and I'm looking forward to getting Aiden to start school soon, which is way halfway through this chapter, there's going to be a two year skip. The first half is only a few weeks after Aiden learns that he has to take private school lessons at home and that he will have a sister (sorry to those who were expecting more.) He has already started the adoption process.**

**A/N2: You'll notice this part isn't centered around Harry. It's in more of Alyssa's point of view, starting at an airport.**

**Once more, these are Dedicated To;**

**Sierra Sierra, who without her competition for reviews, I wouldn't be writing this well today.**

**and **

**Tom, who without his ignorance, I would never have buried myself in this story in the first place**

**Chapter Five: Meets and a Letter**

"Honestly," Alyssa raised her eyebrow as her best friend gazed around with an angry look. "You're parents are never late. It's not like them. You don't think they've forgotten us, do you? They seemed occupied on that phone conversation last week."

"Patience, Tammy." Alyssa herself was quite worried about her parents. They were never late, just as Tammy had said and in that conversation they really had sounded occupied...and undeniably happy. Alyssa remembered that when she asked what was was going on, she got a 'you'll see'. "It's one time. They probably just got lost in the airport somewhere, you know them. _I_ had to find _them_ when_ they _got lost at an amusement park that one time...and I was_ six_!"

"I remember. You were mad at them because they made you leave right afterward. You wouldn't speak to them for days!" Alyssa chuckled at the memory. She knew she had made a big deal over nothing an no one ever let her forget it. "Hey, wait...is that them."

Alyssa craned her neck so she could see over the crowd. Luckily she was tall for her age and could see over some of the people. "Yeah, I think it is...HEY MUM! DAD!" Tammy winced and covered her ears, blushing as people turned to stare at them. Tanny promptly turned around and pretended not to be with the screaming girl. "Come on, Tammy." Alyssa grabbed her by the arm and hauled her over to where her parents were trying to push their way through the crowd. "Geez," Tammy heard her mumble, "could they have gotten a plane to arrive at a busier time?"

Finally, the two girl broke away from the crowd. Tammy watched as her friend ran straight into a boy next to her parents and knock him over. "Oh!" Tammy heard Anne say, "Alyssa? Aiden? Are you okay?" Alyssa seemed to bounce right back up, but Tammy couldn't help but notice how the boy scowled.

"_You're_ Alyssa?" He said, in an odd tone.

"Yeah," Tammy watched her friend say back in a snappy tine. "Who are you suppose to be?"

"I'm Aiden."

"That tells me a lot."

"Alyssa!" Alyssa jumped at her fathers angry voice. "What's gotten into you?"

"What do you mean, dad?"

"He means," The boy said softly, his eyes duller than before, "that he didn't expect you to act this way towards me. I'm used to it though, so you needn't worry. No one very likes me very much. I didn't think you'd be any different."

"Aiden!" Alyssa flinched as both her parents yelled at the strange boy at the same time. Before either of them could continue, however, he started to walk away, shoes rubbing against the tiles. "Alyssa, can you please go after him? Right now, you'll be the only one he listens to. He's trying to fit in, but he's not doing so well."

"What about Tammy? I can't abandon her in order to go find that odd boy!"

"Tammy can stay here with us." Henry said calmly. "Just try to make up with him. He's not used to other people, just try to remember that."

"Whatever." Alyssa stalked after the, already angry at him. Who was he anyway? And what was he doing with her parents. She followed the boy through the airport, which was beginning to empty out enough that she could always keep him in sight. She waited until he was in a relatively private spot then cornered him.

"What are you doing, running off like that. You nearly gave mum a heart attack!" The boy didn't seemed to process her words, so she continued. "What are you, a zombie? You don't look like you could add two plus two."

"Go ahead and say it."

"Say what?"

"What you want to say. I know you're thinking it. I can see it in your face. I'm an idiot, a freak, who knows nothing. I've been told that all my life, so one little girls words can't hurt me all that much, can they?" The boy looked like he was fighting back tears.

Alyssa sighed and helped the boy steady himself. "Your name's Aiden, right? I'm Alyssa." She held out her hand. "We're going to start over right now, okay? I'm not all that good at talking to strangers and I was just startled when I ran into you. I'm sorry."

He shook her hand, but she couldn't help but notice how thin his fingers were. It puzzled her. Who was this mysterious boy? "I've known your name for awhile now. It kind of scared me that they hadn't told me about you yet."

"So I should know about you then?"

"Yeah," he scoffed, "You're parents are adopting me after all."

Alyssa's eyes widen and she looked like she was struggling to form words. She finally seemed to give up and stalked back the way she came, giving the distant figures of her parent murderous glares. Aiden walked by her, feeling small next to her obvious rage. "Mooommmm!" Aiden winced. She sounded very, very mad. "Were you ever planning to tell me if I didn't come home for the summer?"

Anne and Henry gave her small smiles, unaware that she wasn't fooling around. "You were coming home today no matter what, so we just wanted to surprise you. We thought you'd be thrilled."

"Yeah? And did I have a say in this?"

"No."

_**Two Years later**_

Aiden stood in the middle of the room. It was seemingly empty, but he knew by now that looks could be deceiving. His brown eyes scanned the room for any flaw...or anything that would give him a hint that something was going to happen there. Unfortunately, it was all to calm. Aiden sighed, putting his search on auto-pilot. His teacher could make him wait hours, as he had done so before.

So much had happened in the last two years, most of it he couldn't tell his parents nor his sister, as the adoption had gone through and he now held the Shayde name. He had hated the times when he kept secrets from them, yet now it was he who had the secrets. He and his teacher.

**Flashback**

_The first few weeks of his homeschooling, Mr. Tilbet had sat around teaching Aiden pointless things like math, reading, and improving his writing. He could really care less about the subjects. Then it all changed when one day Aiden was trying to do a bit of math and Mr. Tilbet stopped him with a glare. "Have Henry and Anne stopped questioning what we do during lessons yet, Shayde?"_

_He'd been confused. "Yeah. I told them we just do math and stuff. There's nothing special. It's just school...something I have to do."_

"_That's what you told them?" Aiden nodded, suspicious of his teacher. "That's good, but you're incorrect about one thing."_

"_What's that Mr. Tilbet?"_

"_First," He leaned back as if they were going to have a long talk. Aiden knew they just might. They had another hour before it was time for the teacher to leave. "my real name isn't Mr. Tilbet. I had to think of something that sound relatively muggle." The man leaned forward. "Is your real name Aiden?"_

_Aiden stayed silent, wondering how this man had learned his secret. "No."_

"_I took a big gamble by guessing you weren't just Aiden Dejan Shayde, like you said you were. I sensed something...something wasn't right. How many glamour spells have you cast on yourself?"_

"_What are glamour spells?"_

"_It was accidental magic, then."_

"_Magic?" Aiden laughed. "Magic isn't real. Magic is in fairy tales with the Happily Ever After endings. Magic is for elves, and dwarves. Magic is only in storybooks where everyone has the greatest lives they possibly could. Magic isn't real."_

"_That's what you think." the man laughed. "You're real name is Harry Potter, correct? Harry James Potter? If it is, then there's isn't a chance that you can deny it. Harry Potter, as unbelievable it is for someone who's grown up with muggles you are a wizard. And a mighty powerful on eat that if you managed to cast such strong glamour spells on accident."_

"_So what does that make you?"_

"_it makes me a wizard too. Though I'm only Mr. Tilbet to your parents, I'm known as Korry Xora, once a supposed Death Eater. Idiots at the Ministry of Magic couldn't tell the difference between me and my twin brother. I'm neutral."_

"_Death Eaters? Ministry of Magic? What's all that?"_

"_I'll teach you over the next couple of years. It's too confusing to tell you everything right now. You're needed in our world and I've taken it upon myself to teach you some of the basics before you go to Hogwarts, the wizarding school."_

"_I'm not going back to being stupid Harry Potter!"_

"_I never told you to," he said as if it were obvious. "It's common fact that Aiden Dejan Shayde's name is on the List of students going to Hogwarts at eleven. Simply put, Aiden will take the place of Harry in our world. Harry Potter will eventually cease to exist and they'll grateful that you ended up being a wizard."_

"_So, this is real? I'm a wizard who's going to go to a wizarding school when I'm eleven and eventually save the world from some destruction?" Aiden thought about all the things he could do with magic and smiled. "I'm in. When do we start?"_

"_Aiden, Aiden. You're much too impatient. I was getting to that yet. I'm going to continue to teach you some muggle stuff so you don't look too ignorant in front of the muggles, but the other six hours I'll teach you spells, charms, and whatever else I'll be able to within the course of the next two years or so. Since, you're not old enough to acquire I wand, it's best if I teach you wandless magic. It's nearly impossible for a full grown wizard to learn but someone as young as you can easily learn." He took out a stick and handed it to Aiden "Wandless magic is an ancient art, one that almost no one teaches their kids these days. It's highly dangerous if the magic gets out of control. Accidents happen, but nothings going wrong with you. You're stronger than most your age, so you should be able to deal with it. I'm dismissing you early today. Aiden, you must never tell anyone what you are, no matter what. Muggles are afraid of wizards, and I don't know how your parents would react."_

"_So this is a secret?"_

"_A major one, Aiden. I'm a wizard too and if you break your promise to me and tell any of them...even the girl...I'll have to go away and never tell you anything else again. Wizardry is strange to muggles, those with no magic that is, and they're afraid of it. If their ever to find out magic is real, the whole community is in mortal peril. Go now, Aiden, and tell no one. We'll meet again on Monday and I'll start on a basic stunning spell.."He chuckled. "Though I'm not sure whether it's a first years standard spell or not._

_'Okay...what should I call you, though? You don't seem to like Mr. Tilbet very much."_

"_In front of your parents and sister call me Mr. Tilbet. In private I'm simply Korry."_

"_Sure, Korry. I'll be here on Monday." Aiden frowned before he left the room. "You won't call in sick will you? That's not very nice."_

_Korry laughed. "I promise you I won't call in sick if it kills me."_

"_Cool."_

Aiden's eyes sharpened as there was a slight movement to his left. He whirled around on his heel and released the curse from his palm. "_Stupefy" _He muttered under his breath and the spell raced towards Korry who was ready for it. He knocked aside the weak spell with a laugh.

"I'd appreciate it if you would try not to stun me every time I walk in the room, Aiden." He frowned suddenly. "Is there something wrong today? The spell was weaker than usual. I'm used to you at least knocking me off my feet."

"It's nothing, Korry. I was just preoccupied. Today is my staged birthday. You know, since Alyssa and I are posing as twins and everything since we moved here. It makes everything a lot more easy to explain. I don't like being known as the adopted one and how was I suppose to explain why we were born within a two months of each others? It was easier that way."

"It'll put a lot less attention on you when you both go to Hogwarts then."

What do you mean both of us?"

"You picked an extraordinary family to join, Aiden. Alyssa is a muggleborn witch. I've noticed various signs from her while watching her. I think you should both get your letter later tonight."

"So..she's going to school with me? Won't she wonder where I learned all this magic. They'll suspect you."

"That, Aiden, is why you will hold back all the magic you already know and pretend to not know any of the spells. Relearn it all, as if it never was learned in the first place."

"But what about...you know...I've never went long without changing."

"Aiden, I don't know how you managed to find out your Animagus form, let alone achieve to change into it. You're just going to have to find a way to change every so ofter. The animal spirit in you will be more restless than usual, but you should e able to control it. Wolves are noble creatures, and you're a noble boy. You'll figure it out. Just don't worry about it much and nothing can go wrong."

"Korry there's something I never told you."

'What, Aiden?"

"I don't have one Animagus form. I have three."

"Three!" He shouted. "It's hard for most to achieve one form. There's been two in the entire wizard history that have ever had two forms and three is impossible. Are you sure you're not mistaken? There are certain things that may seem like you've changed?"

"Want me to show you?'

"Yes, I need to see this for myself."

Aiden sighed and let himself imagine the wold first. Sleek, black, a shadow. It could twist through shadows as if it were one itself. The eyes were an emerald green, a reminder of who he really was. Harry Potter. He'd long since named this form Shadow. While he was still a wolf, he imagine his second form, beautiful gold feathers. They were always in perfect condition. This was a creature he didn't know what it could be, so he named it. Myst, shortened from Mystery. "A Phoenix." Korry murmured thoughtfully. Aiden closed the Phoenix's eyes, which were also green. He changed into his last form, a white tiger, who once again had green eyes. It was his signature, the green eyes were. He'd named it Vivor. He never had been exactly sure why. Finally, he returned to his human form, looking to Korry for approval.

"That's was amazing! The skill it must have taken you to master each of those. You never even had to return to your human form at all. Have you named them? I've heard that makes the transaction much smoother."

"Yes. The wolf I named Shadow, but you already knew that. The, what did you call it again, the Phoenix? Yeah, well, I named him Myst. I figured out about him a couple of months ago. The white tiger I've only changed into twice after today. I've called him Vivor. It just popped into my head."

"Vivor is a curse, actually." Korry said. Aiden looked at him surprised. "The Nightmare curse. _Vivor Timor_."

"So I named my last form after a curse, a Nightmare curse at that. Well, that's going to look great."

"Aiden, this is going to be our last lesson for awhile. It's Friday and I have a guess that once Henry and Anne find out you're not behind they won't need me to teach you anymore. I might never see you again, but I want you to remember all I've taught you. Keep your mind shields up so Dumbledore doesn't know about anything about you being Harry and me teaching you. That's suicide. And whatever you do, made sure you keep the fake thoughts where he can always see them. I don't think you'll like trying to figure out how to stop Albus Dumbledore from questioning how an eleven year old 'muggleborn' can do more powerful Legimancy and Occlumency than him."

"I know, Korry. I'll never let you down."

"Then go on now. Class is over. And " He looked as though he were concentrating on something suddenly. "You might want to get that letter the owl is giving your sisiter right...now."

Aiden was gone faster than you Hogwarts.

The boy practically fell down the stairs, grinning from ear to ear. Henry smiled inwardly. He'd never told Anne the complete truth about the state the boy had been in when he'd found him. She'd only seen him two days after Henry had started helping the boy to heal. He could still remember the boys grey colored skin, how light was was when Henry had carried him back to the house. He knew that he was lucky to have found the boy when he did. At that time, the boy was slowly dying. Henry had felt pity on the poor little boy right away, and never noticed how much the boy had wormed his way into Henry's heart. He was proud to have Aiden as his son. "Has anyone gone to get the mail yet?" He inquired and Henry looked up suspiciously.

"Why do you want to know? Are you volunteering? If you are then there must be something going on..." Henry didn't get any farther because a pot smashed into the side of his head. 'What the-"

"Shh, Henry. You were teasing the boy. You deserved a good wallop upside the head. And I've been wanting to try that for a while anyway. What does your head feel like? Lightheaded? Do you feel like you're going to pass out-?"

"Anne, I'm not one of your patients. I'm glad too. Do you do that to some of them on a regular basis? I thought some of them looked like they'd lost their brains. Well, at least now we know how. Is this why you almost got fired that one time, because I understand their motives now-"

"Henry..." She warned, doing a little windup with the pan. "What were you saying?"

"Nothing dear. Nothing at all."

"Good." She put the pan down, well out of reach of Henry, then sat down herself. "I sent Alyssa out a minute or so ago. She should be back soon enough." She reached and took Aiden's hand. "Aiden? I was curious what you and Mr. Tilbet did today. You haven't told us in months it seems and I'm still concerned about your education. You were so far behind."

"Don't worry, mum."

"Hey, mum!" Alyssa voice was shrill, overexcited. Aiden felt a surge of excitement himself, but controled it and leapt up along with Henry and Anne, trying his hardest to look concerned. "Dad, Aiden, you've go to see this! It's really weird!"

"What is is, Alyssa?" Henry stopped to process the rom in front of him with a little displeasure. His daughter was standing stock still in the entrance to the doorway, holding two letters in her hands. The rest of the mail was scattered on the floor at her feet, forgotten.

"Dad, look at these letters." He took them and looked doubtfully at the address. He shrugged. "I can't read them. They're your mail, whether they look silly or not. Here, Aiden you've got one too."

Aiden took one quick glance at the address and even he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. Even though Korry had warned him about this, it was slightly unnerving that they knew where you slept right down to the room in the house. Deciding not to dwell too long on the cover, he ripped it over and read the first sheet of paper.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class,Grand Sorc., Chf Warlock, _

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)_

_ Dear Mr. Shayde,_

_ We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted _

_ at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find an enclosed_

_ list of all necessary books and equipment._

_ Term begins on September 1__st__. We await your owl by no later _

_ than July 31__st__._

_ Yours Sincerely, _

_ Minerva McGonagall_

_ Deputy Headmistress_

Aiden looked over at his parents and his sister who looked truly shocked. "Hey," he tried to sound like he was unsure of himself too, but it was nearly impossible. He felt lucky that they didn't notice. "There's another sheet behind that one." They immediately took out the other sheet and Aiden settled with reading his own, even though the look on Anne, Henry, and Alyssa's faces nearly made him laugh out loud.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of _WITCHCRAFT _and _WIZARDRY

**Uniform**

First year students will require:

1.Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2.One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3.One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4.One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

**Course Books**

All students should have a copy of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade One)_

By: Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic_

By: Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory_

By:Adalbert Waffling

_A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration_

By_: _Emeric Switch

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_

By: Phyllida Spore

_Magical Drafts and Potions_

By; Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_

By; Newt Scamander

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

By: Quentin Trimble

**Other Equipment**

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS

ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

"It's a rather well planned out joke." Anne sniffed. She couldn't stand pranksters, "It must have taken a long time for them to plan out such a useless prank. It's really a shame that all this work has to go to waste. I wonder why such a smart person is sending out pranks rather than putting their brains to actual use."

"Mum?" Alyssa said. "I kind of forgot to tell you. Two owls gave these to me on my way back from getting the mail. I think we should at least try to find out if it's real or not. Why would someone go to the extreme of training two owls to deliver mail?"

Anne looked hesitant. "Fine. It says here the direction to a place called the Leaky Cauldron. We'll go there today, right now would be nice, actually, and see if this letter is true. If it isn't, you are going to be in major trouble for making me follow a prank that will end up making me look stupid."

"So, we're going now, right?" Aiden couldn't suppress his excitement anymore. "As in this very moment?"

Anne laughed, but sobered up as she realized it was pure joy. "Aiden, Alyssa, I want you both to know that this is probably a joke. There's no such thing as magic. I've been brought up knowing that. If this is a real school with real magic, then I'll allow you both to go. But I want you both to know that there's more of a chance that this is a cruel joke played by cruel people, okay? Not too much disappointment form either of you, you hear?"

They nodded eagerly and Henry shouted, "Okay, all of you...into the car on the double!"

Ten minutes later Henry, Anne, Aiden, and Alyssa were staring at a rather shabby looking pub. "Okay," Anne admitted. "There is a place called The Leaky Cauldron, I'll give you that. But it's a pub and my children will not be going in there. And anyway," She glanced around at everyone else who were walking by the building as if they weren't seeing it. "I go by this place daily and this place has never been here before. I'm sure of it."

"Anne," Henry sighed, "you told me yourself that you tend to ignore these types of places. Let's just take a quick look. It can't be that bad."

"Whatever." Anne hung back as both Aiden and Alyssa took the first steps into the pub and was instantly overwhelmed by what they saw. There were wizards and witches there...that he could be sure of. With the odd robes and the pointed hats, they couldn't be muggles. They were the first wizards he'd met other than Korry, and it was a nice change.

"Hello!' Aiden jumped as an old man, obviously the bartender, appeared in front of the small family, a smile pasted on his face. "I'm Tom. I own this old place. By the looks on your faces, I'm going to take guess you need help into Diagon Alley to get school supplies?" Aiden nodded eagerly and Tom chuckled. "Awful eager aren't you? You mind me asking your names?"

"I'm Alyssa." Alyssa finally spoke up. 'And this is my brother Aiden. We're twins." She added quickly, remembering the story they'd agreed on. "These are my mum and dad, Anne and Henry. They aren't witches or wizards though."

"Quite alright, quite alright." He muttered, "Follow me." He led the way to a door half concealed by several older wizards who were chatting about Quidditch. Aiden remembered the few times Korry had managed to get him out of the house to try out the wizard sport. He loved the feeling of flying.

Tom took out his wand and Aiden looked at it enviously. Slowly the old man tapped a couple of bricks and an archway appeared nearly instantly. Aiden watched Anne's face turn from disbelief to acceptance in those mere few seconds. "Welcome," Tom said, turning to the family, "to Diagon Alley."

**Okay, this one was a long one for me and since I wrote this all at one time without stopping, I'm pretty tired right now. This is my longest by far and I'm amazingly curious how I managed to write 4655 words...Amazing!! Originally, I was planning to only put about 1000 words in each so I'm pretty happy. No ruining my happiness by flames! If I made a mistake, then simply message me and I'll fix it.**


	6. Finds of Magic

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING YOU'VE SEEN IN THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS. THAT CREDIT GOES SOLELY TO J.K. ROWLING, MY FAVORITE AUTHOR. I DO OWN HENRY SHAYDE, ANNE SHAYDE, ALYSSA SHYDE, MY TILBET(ALSO KNOWN TO HARRY AS KORRY XORA) AND THE NAME AIDEN DEJAN SHAYDE. THE PERSON BEHIND THE DISGUISE IS NOT MINE. TAMMY IS MINE TOO!!**

**A/N: This point almost seems to have no point. It's going to be Diagon Alley and the first day(or two) at Hogwarts. For those who are unaware and don't like slash stories, this isn't one, so it's safe. I personally can't stand them and I avoid them as much as possible. **

**A/N2: I'm not sure if everyone got my notice, but I made a small mistake in Chapter Four about Alyssa's age. Though I said she was eleven, she's really only nine, the same age as Aiden was at that time. Please remember, both Aiden and Alyssa are now eleven years of age and off to Hogwarts posing as twins to avoid suspicion. I've talked enough now, let's get on with this story. **

**Since I haven't put these anywhere else yet, I might as well post them now. I need to put these for those who are wondering, though I think they're the same for almost ever story. **

'thoughts'

"Speaking"

_Parseltongue_

**Chapter Six: Good-bye**

Aiden took much less time to get over the initial shock than the rest of his family and took the time to enjoy the looks on Henry, Anne, and Alyssa's faces. It was rather comical, but after a few minutes of them standing in the archway, with wide eyes no less, he began to get annoyed. By the look on Tom's face, Aiden had a feeling this was a common reaction to all those who'd never seen it before. Nonetheless, he still looked as though he was becoming irritated. From Aiden's own personal experiences with Korry, he knew you didn't want to get on a wizards bad side.

"Hey, mum? Dad? Alyssa? Don't you think we'd better get out of the archway now and get looking around for the stuff we need for school? The list is long and I don't think we want to have to take too much time with this. And," he added, when they didn't react, "if this is a real wizarding place, then I'm sure there are plenty here who can make you move if you fail to do so yourself."

They blinked and looked at him, shock still covering there faces. In truth, he didn't blame them. If he hadn't been prepared by Korry's explanations, he would have probably ended up being the one jinxed to move out of the way. Alyssa slowly regained her cool and took a deep breath. "Yeah, come on mum, dad. This place is awesome and I really want to see some more of it." She took a glance behind her and noticed the bartender giving them an odd look and knew exactly what her brother meant. "And he is looking a little riffled for my liking. Sorry sir!."

She grabbed her fathers hand and pulled him gently through the passageway and into the world of wizards. After a minute or so of hesitation, he did the same with Anne, who recovered next, blushing deeply. "I'm sorry." She said, looking embarrassed. "I wasn't expecting it to be so...different. I mean, I knew it was for wizards, but I really couldn't believe it. Came as a small shock to me, that's all. Nothing to worry about." Aiden couldn't help but notice it sounded like she was comforting herself rather than them, but he couldn't care. This place was all behind a run down pub that most people weren't' able to see! It was an amazing feat. 'I wonder who created this place. It seems so magical...' Aiden scowled at his own thoughts. Of course it was magical! Wizards did spells and curses here!

Henry quickly regained himself, even more embarrassed than Anne had been. It took Aiden a good five minutes to stop him from muttering about being 'The man of the house' so 'he should be able to not go to pieces from seeing something unbelievable'. "Snap out of it!' Alyssa finally yelled at her father. "I really want to get going and if you ask me, sitting here muttering doesn't seem like something the 'Man Of the House' should do."

When they all finally manged to get Henry up off the bench, which really needed a new paint job. Aiden's fingers itched to do even the simplest cleaning spell on it so it wasn't so nasty, but he didn't dare give away what knowledge he did have. Right now he was an invisible and he wanted to stay that way for as long as possible. "Where do you think we should go first, Aiden?" Alyssa's voice broke through his mind and he focused on her face, a little discouraged by all the shops around him.

"I really have no clue. Do you think we should do what no one has ever done before and follow the list we have in order?" He took the list from his back pocket and tried to piece together what little information they had. "If so, then first on the agenda would be uniforms." He wrinkled his nose. "On second thought, let's give up the idea. How about we go look at books?"

The gleam in both his mothers eyes and his sisters told him that he'd just doomed himself. "Brilliant," he muttered to himself as the two clothes obsessed females dragged him towards a shop barely visible called Madam Malkins Robes for All Occasions. As they got nearer to the tidy shop, Aiden had an idea and he put it to effect right away. "You know, we don't know if they accept our money." Both Anne and Alyssa stopped right away, and began to glare at him. "I mean, it's almost like a whole other world here." He looked around quickly for the one bank Korry had ever mentioned and zoned in on it. "See there's a bank right over there. Don't you think we should check so we don't make total fools of ourselves?"

Eventually, when the glares stopped, they finally admitted he was right. Then the two discouraged females of the family trudged towards the grand building while both Henry and Aiden were relieved that they didn't have to go through with this quite yet. One thing was for sure, they didn't care to go fuss over clothes for hours at a time. As the family neared the large bank Alyssa forgot her anger towards her brother for distracting her from her goal, which was to get some new clothes.

"Wow." She whistled as her eyes tried to find out how tall it was. Since it stretched out of her eyesight, she decided it had to be much taller than any other bank she's seen before. "What is this place, other than a bank I mean." She glared at her brother again. His answer would have been, no doubt about 'it's a bank'.

"It's called Gringotts." Aiden muttered to her sister, also taken aback by the large building. Korry had made sure Aiden had seen a lot of surprising stuff, but a building as massive and grand as this one took the cake." "Look." Alyssa followed his finger to the spot he was pointing at, eyes wide. There were words engrave on the silver door. At first Alyssa thought it was just a famous quote that the founder of the bank must have liked, until she read it;

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floor_

_A treasure that was never yours_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

"Amazing work." Anne said as she read the warning herself. Alyssa and Aiden rolled their eyes in turn. It was just like their mother to turn back into a bookworm the second they were faced with something that was actually good in their opinion.

"Mum, let's go on now, before you ruin our thoughts of an actual good poem, okay? And mum, can you, like, not act, you know too weird when we're inside?" Alyssa was begging, but Aiden knew she wasn't hearing a thing. "Mum. Maybe dad should be the only one to come in. You can just stay here..."

Anne's eyes flashed daggers. "No way. I"m your mother, therefore I'm going in with you. I don't trust Henry with financial issues." She shivered. Alyssa and Aiden could only imagine what problems they used to have when Henry controlled the money.

"Mum?" Aiden still was a little uncomfortable with calling Anne mum, even two years later, but it was beginning to get easier. "It can't be that different, otherwise other people with parents who aren't wizards wouldn't be able to get by with it. I mean, we can't be the only ones, you know?"

She promptly ignored him as she opened the second set of doors and entered the building, getting another stunned reaction from the family. The first room was massive, with impressive golden walls with flecks of carving set deep into the walls. Every so often they would move, as would some of the portraits on the walls. Smallish creatures that only reached up to Aiden's waist sat at desks and did the paperwork. Harry knew these were goblins, as Korry had told him that too, but he hadn't been told that the goblins actually ran the bank itself. Aiden had just thought that they worked there, but that wasn't the answer. "What are those?" Alyssa asked, awe in her brown eyes. "They're so different."

"I think," Aiden said, not really wanting to give out his knowledge lest they figure out his secret. "they're those one creatures from the fairy tales we used to read a long time ago...Goblins."

"Goblins? They're not real."

"You thought magic wasn't real until you got that letter. Obviously, there's a lot of things that we thought were just tall tales, but are real and have places in the world. Personally, I think it's cool that a bank is run by goblins. Maybe they have special magic or something."

Anne recovered quicker than when she'd first seen Diagon Alley, because she'd expected there to be something shocking about the bank. Of course, she hadn't expected to see little creatures she thought never existed running it. "Come on, we might as well get this deal over with. I've got to accept that both my kids are wizards and now I'm going to have to pay who knows how much to buy stuff that I didn't even know existed before today. Other than that, I think everything is going to be fine."

"Hello." Anne smiled at a goblin who was sitting in a chair rather high off the ground, scribbling notes on a sheet of paper. Aiden stood on the very tips of his toes and he still could barely see over the desk. "My son and daughter are attending...umm...Hogwarts this year and we only have well, not wizard money. My husband and I've never even heard of this place before today, and we're wondering how we buy anything."

"Ahh," The goblin said, setting his quill down and pointing behind him at another goblin across the hall. "Muggleborns, I suppose you are? Proceed to Yerlose over there and he'll help you get everything sorted out." The goblin, Aiden took a look at the name tag which said Griphook, and stayed behind for a second as his sister and mother practically ran to where to Yerlose was already over talking to another set of parents, who had a bushy brown haired girl by there side. She wasn't paying any attention to the conversation, however. Instead her nose was buried deep n a book. "What is it you need, Mr. Shayde?"

Aiden jumped and turned to address the goblin with his question. "Err, Griphook, sir? I never wanted anyone to know-"

"Mr. Potter," Griphook continued, once more setting down the quill. Aiden paled suddenly and looked about, hoping no one heard " Follow me to my office if you will. I'm sure we can get you back here in time to meet with your family."

The goblin steeped down from the desk and another filled his place almost instantly, replacing the name tag with his own name. Griphook led the boy farther back into the bank and through a door with a dragon symbol carved deep in the magnificent wood. When the door was closed firmly behind them, Griphook motioned for Aiden to sit down. "I know you're Harry Potter, so my first advice is to stop proving yourself otherwise in front of goblins. Glamour charms are useless, we can see right through them. Since you are Harry Potter," he continued, not seeing Aiden's scowl, "I believe I have something to discuss with you."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, Mr Potter, or if you will Mr. Shayde, You are aware that your parents were wizards?"

"No."

"Not surprising, since you've been brought up by muggles. Well, your parents, Lily and James Potter were quite wealthy in their days, and I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that you have plenty of money in your trust fund to last you through all seven years at Hogwarts."

"What about Alyssa? She's my sister now. I mean, they did adopt me and I owe it to them."

"There's plenty for her too, if you wish to do so. However, I believe your main problem would be telling them how you got the money to buy her and yourself everything. From what I gather, they know nothing of your true self, am I correct? Do you have any chance at making it out of their wrath unscathed?"

"They're not nosy people. They'll wander where I got enough to buy everything, but they aren't the type to just ask straight out. They probably won't even notice until after we're back at home. Is...how do I get down to my vault without them knowing though? They're going down there too, right?"

"No, Mr Shayde." He rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a small box. "From what I gather about you, you already know quite a few spells from a teacher, correct? Wandless magic is a useful talent, very useful. Here, if you need any money, then simply pull out this box and think the amount you need, and it will appear inside. However, you need to know the password, which is _patefacio__._"

"That's it?" He took the small box, now having a new fear. "It's so small...what if I drop it and lose it? Will others be able to get into my vault?"

"It's password safe," Griphook reminded him, "And if it's ever to get lost by ways of someone stealing it, then I can do a quick Gringotts summoning charm. Go now, I've made this conversation as brief as I could. Your family is getting a little worried about you. They're making a quick a bot of ruckus out front. "

" That's my cue to leave."Aiden pocketed the box, made a mental not to himself of the password (_patefacio_), and made his way to where his sister was practically screaming his name. "AIDEN! WHERE ARE YOU! I'M GOING TO BLOODY WELL KILL YOU WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!!"

"Erm, Alyssa, mind telling me why you're screaming. Don't you ever get embarrassed by anything at all?" Aiden bit his lip and smiled at his sister, noting that his mum and dad didn't look unembarrassed either.

"Aiden!" She sighed, relieved. "I've been looking everywhere for you! You disappeared before we got into one of these really odd carts and the goblin, the one called Yerlose, said not to worry. So we had to go though all these chambers in this cart that steered itself. Eventually we got to this one vault where there were all these small piles of coins and the goblin told us that this certain pile was mine, because of magic or something. Then I asked him where yours was and he said you didn't have one. Mum and dad are worried about paying for it."

He waved away her concern. "I've got it handled okay? Don't worry. I have a way to get plenty. Just trust me okay, Alyssa?"

She grinned mysteriously. "Well, I think you owe me now...how 'bout a trip to dear Madam Malkins Robes for All Occasions?"

Aiden groaned, but he knew it was a hopeless cause to think that he would be able to avoid the horror forever. "Fine," He snapped. "But after that we get to go to Flourish and Blots, which is the book store. And that means you'll hate it."

It was her turn to groan. "You and your books! I don't see how you can stand to sit around all day and stare at a bunch of nonsense writing when you could be doing something useful."

"Talking on the phone with your friends isn't considered useful."

"Well it should be."

A couple of minutes later both Aiden and Alyssa stood awkwardly in Madam Malkin's shop while she scrambled around, muttering their new acquired measurements under her breath. She showed them several materials, which Anne gently turned down. "What about secondhand robes? Do you have any of those we could have instead?'

Aiden gritted his teeth, determined to keep back the words that he wanted to say so badly. It was a worthless fight, because a second later he still managed to get the words out. "Don't do that. I have enough. Give us nice robes, if you will."

Anne and Henry stared at him, shocked that he would say something like that."Aiden dear, you don't have any money at all. Henry and I have to pay for your admission and school supples."

"No, you don't. Just don't ask questions, okay?" Aiden muttered the password under his breath, opening the box while it was still in his pocket to avoid even more suspicion. He took out the requested amount of galleons and put them in Madam Malkin's hands. "Will that be enough for what we need?"

She turned the galleons over in her hands and pocketed them, nodding. "You'll get them by owl within the week."

Next, the small family went to Flourish and Blots, just as Aiden had requested. Once again, Aiden had paid for the necessary books that both he and Alyssa needed. Aiden grabbed a couple of books (Quidditch Through the Ages, The Dark Arts and Their Uses, Light Vs. Dark, the First War) not on the list to his ever growing pile. They didn't ask questions. They had decided to turn a blind eye from their son and ignore it.

"Aiden!" Alyssa squealed a short time later. By this point, most of the list had been bought. "Look! A pet shop! It says here that we can bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad. Oh, do come on already! I've got an excuse to get a pet now. Mum and dad can't say no!"

The pet shop was a mess. Owl droppings were scattered everywhere, a couple of loose cats jumped from cage to cage in an effort to stay away from a particularly nasty looking ginger cat. Aiden decided to stay as far away from that cat as possible. Because of his wolf animagus form, cats didn't tend to like him that much. He strode down the aisles, determined to find an owl that would accept him. Toads personally disgusted him and well, cats just plain didn't like him.

Aiden leaped out of the way as a fearsome looking hawk peered at him through its chilling yellow eyes. "You're not really a owl, are you?" Aiden asked, coming closer. The hawk looked out at him, but made no move to attack. "My letter says it has to be an owl. I wonder if I could get away with you?" Aiden shivered at breaking the rules right from the start. "Never mind. Sorry." He backed away from the hawk and instead chose an owl the very opposite. It was a white owl he named Hedwig, a person stated in _A History of Magic._

_'_"Right," He told his sister as he looked at the crumbled list. He looked back at the place where their parents had decided to wait for them and keep the bags so they didn't get tied up. "since we've got that done, we only need to get our wands now."

**So here's your update! Now, don't expect another chapter for quite some time. I had this chapter all planned out in my head, so I just had ot type it. Now, I've got a serious case of writers block...nothing ever goes right for me!!**

**Reviews make the writers block go away!**


	7. Just Another Day

**DISCLAIMER: I'M NOT THE OWNER OF ANY OF THE STUFF YOU RECOGNISE. ALL CREDIT GOES TO J.K.ROWLING FOR ALLOWING US TO USE HER CHARACTERS. THE FOLLOWING ARE CHARACTERS THAT ARE MINE (NO TOUCHIE! MINE!); HENRY SHAYDE, ANNE SHAYDE, ALYSSA SHAYDE, TAMMY, AIDEM DEJAN SHAYDE (THE NAME, ANYWAY), AND MR TILBET A.K.A KORRY XORA. **

**A/N; I know for a fact that this will take awhile to come out, so I'm writing this now...sorry for the delay whether it's been two months/days/ years. Hehe, I really hope it's not that last one... Anyway, I'm preoccupied, so I don't know how long its been. Oh well, you still got the next part, right? Okay, moving on now before I go insane.**

**Dedicated To:**

**Sierra, my totally insane friend who cannot stop bragging that she has more reviews than me...I wouldn't have gotten this far if not for her constant publishing of new stories...**

**Tom, my brother, who without I would never found this site because he was annoying me to death...literally.**

**Chapter Seven: Time Flies**

"Wands!" She screamed, jumping up and down like an overexcited kangaroo. "I almost forgot! Wands are what can make us cast spells! This is going to be awesome!"

"Yeah, well calm down. We're only going to Ollivander's. He's suppose to make the best wands in the entire country and I'm not letting you step foot inside that shop until you calm down enough to get your head out of the clouds and down to where it belongs." Aiden managed to hold her off for a couple minutes before he gave into the temptation himself and they both enter ed the shop. Aiden saw Ollivander hiding in the shadows, waiting to make his big entrance. Only Alyssa jumped when he emerged. Aiden could only laugh at the look on her face. "Oh come on, Alyssa. Don't tell me you couldn't see him standing there!"

"Maybe you just have exceptionally good eyes, Mr..." Ollivander pointed out.

"Shayde. Aiden Dejan Shayde. And this is Alyssa Shayde, my sister. We're going to Hogwarts this year."

"Ahh, so you'll both be needing a wand?"

Aiden nodded along with his sister. Ollivander immediately set to work finding Alyssa a wand. Amazingly, on the fourth wand a beautiful red spark flew from the tip and a warm feeling descended upon the three witch and wizards. "Nine and a quarter inches long, stiff, made of Holly. Unicorn hair core. Very reliable and a great wand for new charms." He handed the wand back to her after a quick examination. "Now for you, Mr Shayde." But Aiden proved to be a problem. He tried many wands of all lengths, with several different cores, yet none of them seemed to be right. A couple blew things up, some more seemed to make the several shelves disappear altogether, and some had some effects that Aiden wasn't going to speak to his parents about anytime soon.

But no matter how much of the shop Aiden destroyed, Ollivander only seemed to get even more excited. "A tricky customer, eh? No matter, no matter. Hmm." Ollivander suddenly was gone as he disappeared to a back room somewhere. "I wonder...try this one, Mr. Shayde. Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven inches. Nice and supple." Aiden waved the wand and a show very much like Alyssa's emerged. "Yes, curious. I never did think that wand would be sold."

"Why not?"

"I don't think I mentioned earlier that every wand is different. None are perfectly alike, yet some are similar to others. Like, the wand you're holding right now has a twin Phoenix feather is another wand. The wand of You-Know-Who."

"I'm not sure I understand." Aiden pressed. Korry had taken up plenty of time explaining the effects the name Voldemort had on everyone. No one dared to mention his name out of fear and it sickened Aiden. It was a name, and anagrammed name at that. He saw nothing to be afraid of in that one word. One simple word, nothing more; nothing less. Voldemort was gone, at least for now. He didn't believe a wizard of his status to disappear because of one simple spell.

"Then I can't help you anymore."

The rest of the summer couldn't go fast enough for either Aiden, nor Alyssa. Aiden had only been told about a few of the things to expect in the outer parts of Hogwarts. Korry had never cared to explain the inside of the castle no matter how much Aiden had already begged him. Now Aiden waited impatiently, reading the textbooks three times each before getting bored of them. Then he satisfied himself by getting away from Alyssa and heading into the woods to practice his animagus forms. Mostly he stuck to the pitch black wolf, because it was the easiest form and it made him feel so free.

Though the wait for the upcoming school year was tough, Aiden didn't know what he would do when he had to say goodbye to his parents until Christmas break. They were the first people to prove that they loved him and would never think about harming him like the Dursley's had all those years ago.

But the day came, and Aiden was unsure of whether he was happy or not. Poor Anne and Henry had to watch both of them go off to an unknown school in an unknown part of Scotland. Even though Alyssa had gone away to boarding school, it had only been for a year. Now, they would have to watch Aiden and Alyssa go away from home for months at a time, only seeing them a handful of times each year. No matter how much he thought of how much he would miss the people he now knew as parents.

It took them all a few minutes to find out how to get to Platform 9¾, but they soon figured it out with the help of a unaware redhead family who chatted a little to loud about wizardry for Aiden's liking. They talked as if the muggles couldn't hear a thing they were saying. Aiden knew that it couldn't be that way because Anne and Henry were clearly able to hear it by the puzzled looks. "Did they just say we have to walk into that very solid looking brick wall?" Alyssa whispered to Aiden "Because if they did, then I think I'll feint."

Aiden shook his head. "Sorry, but I think they're speaking the truth. See? One of them is running towards the wall now..." They both winced, expecting to hear a loud crash, but the redhead just simply disappeared rather than crashed. "I guess that means it has to be safe..."

"Come on, Aiden. Let's go through at the same time. It looks just wide enough for both our carts to squeeze through. If it doesn't work, then at least we'll look stupid together."

They both took firm holds on the carts, earning nervous laughs from Anne and Henry, who said there goodbyes a few minutes before. They were nervous about walking through walls, so they left as soon as the two eleven year olds disappeared through the solid wall.

Once through the wall, the twins were astounded by the beautiful gleaming red engine that shone brightly in front of them. Behind it, carriages stretched into the distance, but his sight was already on the frame of the train. When he was smaller, he'd loved trains almost as much as he did his family. He knew this trains was perfect and it would run smoothly to Hogwarts, wherever that was.

"Come on, Aiden!" Alyssa giggled as she pulled him away from the front of the train and towards one of the doors leading inside one of the several carriages. Around him there were more wizards, some of which looked older than he'd expected. "Let's get on before everyone else. Since we're only first years, we'll have a harder time finding a compartment that isn't filled with seventh years."

Aiden agreed silently and followed her inside, settling on a compartment near the back of the train. While Alyssa started to make sure she wasn't missing anything from her trunk, Aiden took a book from his own trunk and sat back for a long train ride to a school he had been counting on for the last two years.

Aiden was about three pages into _Hogwarts, A History_ when the door to their compartment opened revealing a brunette with unruly, bushy hair standing next to a boy Aiden knew was one of the redheaded family that had unknowingly helped them get in. Aiden stood and greeted the brunette as warmly as he could. He like to have his privacy every once in awhile.

"I'm sorry, " The brunette blushed, "I'm Hermione. And this," she tugged the boy closer to the open door, "is Ron. We were wondering if we could share the compartment. The others are all taken up."

" No problem." Aiden stepped aside, picking his book up off the seat and sitting beside his sister, who was now in her own book. He grimaced as he saw the title; _Making the Love Potion_. That was one book he would never read.

Ron and Hermione took the two remaining seats and stowed away their trunks above their heads. "By the way, " Aiden said, never looking up from the book. "I'm Aiden Dejan Shayde, and this," he attempted to get his sisters attention to no avail. Apparently, she found the book highly interesting, "is my twin sister, Alyssa Shayde, who I don't think has ever been this interested in a book before."

"What?" Alyssa looked up, "Did someone call me?"

"Alyssa, just keep reading."

"Okay."

"Little loony if you know what I mean." Aiden sighed, perturbed by his sisters strange interest in a book. "So are you both from wizard families? Neither of my parents are wizards, so I guess I'm not."

"I am." Ron said, but he didn't look very happy about it. "But Hermione isn't, are you? I don't know any purebloods with the name Granger."

"No, I'm not. Didn't even know there was such a thing before I got my letter. My parents loved it. I've read all the textbooks so I'm not too far behind. It's all rather exquisite, isn't it?"

"Who reads the bloody textbooks before classes start?' Ron moaned.

"I do." Aiden said. "I got a little bored and read them all three times. Now I'm on _Hogwarts, A History_ again. It's fascinating really. There's supposed to be dozen of charms and wards placed around the schools and muggles aren't able to see it at all, even if they know it's there. I think it's got a charm placed around it so that any muggles that see it, suddenly remember that they have to be somewhere else."

'You've read the textbooks three times?" Ron looked amazed, as if he hadn't heard anything else. "Hermione is the only person I've met that's read it once, let alone three. You have to be a bloody genius to be able to understand one word that comes from those books."

"Then I must be a bloody genius." Aiden said, borrowing it from Ron, "because it was really simple for me."

'Oh, Aiden." Alyssa mumbled from behind her book, "please do stop acting like you know everything. It really does sour everyone else's moods. Including mine."

"I didn't ask you-"

"Hey," Hermione said nervously, "aren't you two twins? I never thought they fought like you two are..." Aiden narrowed his eyes and he watched as she struggled to change the subject. "Err, so what house do you think you're going to be in. Personally, from what I've heard. I'd be a Ravenclaw."

Suddenly, Alyssa was glad Aiden had insisted she read the page in a book about the four houses of Hogwarts. "I don't know. I was thinking of either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I couldn't be a Slytherin, could I? They don't put, what that words again, muggleborns? They don't put muggleborns in Slytherin."

"I could be any of them, I think, but I don't think I'd like being in Hufflepuff."

"You're muggleborn too, Aiden," Alyssa reminded him. At the moment, Aiden didn't feel like lying, so he just just shrugged "So you only have Gryffindor and Ravenclaw too."

Ron butted in, grumbling. "I already know I'm getting into Gryffindor. My whole family has for centuries now. My five brothers have all been in Gryffindor too."

The train ride was uneventful for the most part, but Aiden couldn't help but wonder what the reaction would have been to him if he'd come on the train as Harry Potter. He knew he was their supposed 'Savior' and he could hardly care. He didn't want the weight of this world pressing upon him.

They were only a couple of minutes away from Hogwarts when Ron brought up that subject he'd been waiting for the entire ride. "Any of you seen Harry Potter? This is the year he was supposed to go, you know. Everyone says he's dead though. Been missing for four years."

Alyssa looked perplexed. "Harry Potter? Who's he? And," she turned to Aiden who'd nodded a confirmation. "how do you know who he is?"

"Books."

"Of course. So who is he then?"

"He's supposed to have survived the Killing curse when he was only a baby. Some of the most powerful wizards died from that curse. Yet he didn't die as a baby! He's the only one to ever survive the curse in our entire history."

Alyssa snorted. "It sounds like he'd be a stuck up brat."

Aiden blushed. She had no idea..."I think, " he interrupted her, "we'd better start getting dressed. We're supposed to arrive in fifteen minutes and personally I don't feel like being late on the first day. Imagine the letter mum would write me!"

Aiden and Ron were swiftly kicked out of the compartment and sent to get dressed elsewhere. He scowled and muttered curses to his sister under his breath, which Ron seemed to think was amusing. Aiden slipped into the only bathroom, taking his time and letting Ron only have a couple minutes to change. "That teach him not to laugh at me."

Aiden and the three friends emerged from the scarlet engine a few minutes later, gazing around them in shock. To their right there was a rather large lake, but to the left there were carriages without horses. Aiden was clueless where to go until a large man, almost a giant, was yelling, "Firs' years! Firs' years! Come along, mind yer step―any more firs' years?"

"He _is_ trying to say first years, right?" Hermione asked, a little nervous as all the other students young and old scrambled here and there is a big hurry. "Because in my opinion, I do hope he isn't. Those rowboats don't look all that stable to me."

"Oh, _come on, _Hermione. This is magic, right? So I figure you've got to trust it. They've probably been doing this for years."

"Firs' years watch your step! Only four to a boat!"

The four friends all clambered into one of the last boats, which was also one that looked the most unstable. This fact made Hermione a very annoying pest for the first part of the ride until she realized that no one was listening to her antics.

"DUCK!" Luckily, this was part of the trip to Hogwarts that Korry had felt free to explain, so Aiden had been tense most of the ride, waiting for that lone shout. He ducked instantly, making a quick decision and pulling Alyssa down with him. They got through the cave unscathed, though both Ron and Hermione weren't so lucky. Aiden took another look around and was sad to see Malfoy, the son of a faithful Death Eater, had also been smart enough to follow the giant's directions.

Alyssa gave him a grateful look when seeing about half the first years moaning and rubbing their foreheads. "What was that?"

"Well," Aiden grinned, "I think it was a cave with a very low ceiling covered by vines so you could not see the entrance, therefore making your first day at Hogwarts an unpleasant one."

"Did you just make that up?"

"Pretty much."

"Prat." She mumbled.

When the large group of soon-to-be students finally docked at near the castle entrance, even Aiden was stunned. He'd seen many books with pictures of Hogwarts. He'd even seen a moving photo of it, yet neither of those were even close to showing the real Hogwarts. The real Hogwarts was beautiful and so alive. This was the building that had talking portraits and moving staircases. This was the place he would call home for the majority of his next seven years.

"Aiden." Alyssa poked her brother hard in the gut. "Wake up. The rest of the students are already at the castle doors with that lady up there. We need to catch up before we get locked out or something. I don't want to miss sorting because you're looking at the castle. You'll have plenty of time in between classes, so come on!"

"Okay, okay!" Aiden held his hands up in self-defense while being pulled towards a rather strict looking woman with spectacles. "Now that we're all here," Aiden blushed as she gave him a disapproving look, "I want you to tidy yourselves up. This is the only time you get sorted with no exceptions. Now if you will follow me to the Great Hall."

The students crowded around her, excitement bubbling up. Aiden took a deep breath...because of that closet he'd been forced to live in for the first five years of his life, he had one of the worst cases of claustrophobia, a major weakness when dealing with magic. Even the simplest of Body-Binding charms could send him into a panic if he didn't keep himself controlled. "It's okay," He muttered to himself. Alyssa gave him a reassuring smile. "Everything will be fine." With that final word he followed the woman through the doors, down a couple halls to a place where two large double doors stretched for to the ceiling

He knew this must be the entrance to the great Hall itself, the place he'd be eating every meal for the next few months. It was had to digest that he was finally here after two tedious years of practicing both light and dark magic. When he'd first started to learn the dark magic, he'd been hesitant, but it only took Korry describing that he needed to know what he was up against in his upcoming battles, to get him to learn it willingly and well.

He knew he could never be perfectly free here. He was a first year who knew magic all the way up to fifth year fluently. He could do more than every first year. No duel would ever be fair, unless it was with a fifth or even sixth year. The professors would always stop any duel like that claiming that it would be _unfair_, when the only thing that would b_e _unfair was how little Aiden would have been harmed. Any duels were out, even in teacher demonstrations. He would have to pretend not too be too good at anything, and then try to pretend not to be absolutely horrible at anything either.

The Professor, Minerva McGonagall if Korry had described her correctly opened the large doors and Aiden found himself starring at hundreds upon hundred of other students, who starred back at them in turn. He felt his sister shrink a little beside him and made time to give her a small smile before being marched up to the front of the room where a sorting hat sat on the seat. He knew this, but it still made him a little nervous. Any second now...

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find,_

_A smarter hat than me,_

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,_

_And I can cap them all,_

_There's nothing hidden in your head,_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you,_

_Where you ought to be,_

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_The daring, nerve and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindor's apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal_

_,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends,_

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands(though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

Aiden looked at the hat with dread. He hadn't even heard the whole poem... he'd been too nervous when he'd heard that there was nothing it couldn't see. Did that mean it would tell everyone he was really in infamous Harry Potter? The boy who was supposedly dead? He wanted to back out of the hall and go home now so he wouldn't have to deal with this, but he knew a weakness when he saw one, and he could have sworn that there was some sort of spell on the hat.

"When I call your name," Professor McGonagall said, pulling a piece of parchment from her robes, "you will put on the hat and sit to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVERCLAW!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brown, Lavender!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Bulstrode, Millicent!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Finnigan, Seamus!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Granger, Hermione!" Aiden focused his sight on the brunette girl just as the hat slipped over her eyes. There was no doubt she would be in Ravenclaw...She was an intense bookworm, like Aiden himself

"GRYFFINDOR!" He blinked, surprised at the hats choice.

Aiden let his attention slip. The names were getting royally boring. He was beginning to wish that he'd picked a family with the last name starting with an A or a B, maybe a C. This S stuff was not working out and Aiden knew he was not considered a patient person. Aiden hadn't even realized how long he'd been daydreaming until the Professor called out a name he would never answer to. "Potter, Harry." Aiden looked at the staff table where everyone was tense, as if waiting for him to step out a say, 'Hey, I'm here! Sorry to keep you waiting!' The silence stretched on for what seemed like hours to Aiden, until McGonagall sighed and read the next name off the list, "Shayde, Aiden." As he sat down on the stool he could only think of how much irony there was for him to be called right after his real name.

"Hmm," he heard a small voice say in his ear, at almost a whisper, "Well, this is a surprise. I daresay I've been waiting to meet you for quite awhile, Mr. Potter. You've got a lot of secrets hidden, haven't you?" Aiden winced and felt like nodding, but he could only think of how stupid he would look to everyone else. 'You worry I'll tell your secret? Mr Potter, you have no reason to worry, my boy. I'm bound under and oath of secrecy. Nothing you tell me can ever be forced from me." The hat seemed to suddenly realize it had to get back to business. "I don't think Hufflepuff would suit you, not now. Ravenclaw..no. You're wise beyond your years but you'd never be accepted there...Yes, I see quite a lot of cunning here, but yet, so much bravery...I'll have to say you're a GRYFFINDOR!"

Aiden lifted the hat off his head, trying not to show his clear pleasure. He knew he'd fit into the house, since Gryffindor was a house that many muggleborns ended up in. The hat had made a wise decision in his case. Had it put him in Slytherin, then he would never have been able to keep up the constant act of being a muggleborn.

He took the seat next to the muggleborn he'd sat with on the bus...Hermione. Still, he was surprised that she was even at this table, but she looked pleased, so he didn't mention it. "SHAYDE, ALYSSA" then a couple of seconds later, his sister took a seat on the right of him, eying the empty plates longingly.

The rest of the sorting seemed to stretch on for hours, though it couldn't have been any more than two or so minutes. Shayde was practically the last name on the list other than Weasley, Ron, who was quickly sorted into Gryffindor and Zambini, Blaise. Slytherin.

Ron took a seat by Hermione and the four easy friends lapsed into sudden laughter as they shared what the hat had told them. Apparently, the hat wasn't very bright--well, that was Ron's opinion. Aiden kept himself silent, staring at his plate even as the hall grew silent and Dumbledore stood to speak. Not even when the old man said something that caused the whole hall to burst into laughter, he didn't look up. Yes, he was happy about being in Gryffindor, but there was still so much wrong...

* * *

**A/N: I want to clear this up before someone asks. I've recently read an article that said when transforming into an animagus that creature retain features from when they were human, such as glasses. None of Harry animagus forms hold the markings around their eyes, because when Harry healed himself the first night on the streets, he managed to heal his eyesight and restore it. Despite the glamour charm Harry/Aiden has on himself, his scar does appear on the foreheads of all three forms.**

**Also, you might have noticed that I took a lot of this chapter (and the last one too) out of the first book (such as the letter from Hogwarts, the school supples list, the Gringotts thief poem, and the sorting hat's song.) There may be a few other things, but I do not take credit for it. It's all J.K. Rowling marvelous work and she's just kind enough to let us use it.**


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